“Magneto, Sir,” said Amy, “are there shapeshifters you know of?”
“There’s one, why?” asked Magneto.
“Because either a human snuck into the mansion and stabbed that poor kid, or a shapeshifter mutant framed a human,” replied William.
“None of my allies would dare!” insisted Magneto.
“We have to check,” countered the Doctor. “And given your history…” The Doctor let Magneto fill in the blanks.
“…Very well,” he sighed.
The person they went to was Mystique, a blue-skinned woman with yellow eyes and red hair. “You cannot be serious!” she hissed.
“Mystique, you must admit it would be your MO,” remarked William.
“That’s my PAST, you dolt!”
“Mystique, did you or did you not carry out such missions without question when I assigned them to you?” asked Magneto. Mystique glared at the Master of Magnetism, then sighed.
“I was nowhere near the area at the time of the stabbing,” she said. “I was at the west wing in the library, getting into an argument with Kurt.”
“We’ll check with him,” said the Doctor.
“I think it’s this way,” called William.
“William!” protested Lurra Rus as he made a wrong turn.
“I don’t get it!” grumbled William. “I have a better sense of direction than this!”
“Hey!” called a voice. Everyone turned to see a short man with big muscles and hair styled to look like a pair of horns with long sideburns. “What are you guys doing, wandering the place?” he asked gruffly.
“Everyone, meet Logan, better known as Wolverine,” introduced William. “And we’re trying to confirm Mystique’s story with Kurt, er, Nightcrawler.”
“She said she was busy arguing with Kurt in the library during the time of the thankfully non-fatal stabbing,” explained the Doctor.
“She’s telling the truth except for one thing,” replied Wolverine. “It was a damned shouting match, not a normal argument. Anyways, I took a sniff in the air at the scene.”
“You did?” asked the Doctor. “Do you have super senses?”
“Sure do, lady. The guy we’re looking for ain’t human in any capacity. His scent ain’t exactly like yours or your friends.”
“…I’ll ask about the Doctor’s smell later,” said William. “So it’s an alien infiltrating the place?”
“Yeah,” confirmed Wolverine.
“But which one?” muttered William. “The only ones I know about are Skrulls…” He trailed off when Wolverine nodded. “…You’re telling us-!”
“There’s a Skrull here,” replied Wolverine.
“A Skrull?” muttered the Doctor. “But why? There’s a peaceful Skrull colony here on Earth. And our Skrull apparently wanted a mutant to die.”
“What IS a Skrull, aside from being a shapeshifter?” asked Amy.
“Well, they’re humanoid,” replied the Doctor, “green-skinned, pointy ears, bumpy chins, and are engaged in a war with the Kree. They use their shapeshifting powers to infiltrate a planet and take it over, usually. At least those that follow Queen Veranke.”
“And those that don’t?” asked Amy.
“There’s a colony of Skrulls that want to live peacefully with us,” answered William. “Not exactly popular with Veranke.”
“We need to find this Skrull,” declared the Doctor. “Mr. Howlett, can you help us find a team we can trust?”
“How the hell did you-?!” spluttered Wolverine, as he didn’t reveal his surname. “…Never mind. Yeah, I can do that. Come on.”
Wolverine gathered Storm and Professor X as well as a man with a ruby red visor and a man with three fingers, digitigrade legs, blue skin, pointy ears, yellow eyes, and a tail. The blue person was Kurt Wagner, Nightcrawler, and the man with the visor was Scott Summers, Cyclops. “A Skrull?!” asked Cyclops.
“They have an anti-mutant population too?” quizzed Nightcrawler. He rolled his eyes. “Wunderbar. Such an advanced civilization.”
“Even Wakanda has its racism problems,” replied Storm. “The stories I could tell you about those who flat out said to T’Challa’s face that opening Wakanda’s borders was a mistake.”
“I’d argue Gallifrey has worse, but that’s neither here nor there,” said the Doctor.
“Why gather us specifically, Wolverine?” asked Nightcrawler. “Professor X and yourself, I can understand.”
“You’re a teleporter, so you can confuse the Skrull when it comes down to it,” replied Wolverine, “Cyke’s a tactician, and Storm can unbalance our Skrull with her weather abilities.”
“All right,” said the Doctor, “we’ll need to-.” Professor X then gasped.
“Professor X?” asked Amy.
“It’s Magneto!” replied Professor X. “He’s got the same idea!”
“But probably not as peaceful!” gasped Storm.
“We gotta stop him!” urged Cyclops as he grabbed the handles on Professor X’s wheelchair.
“Hurry, my X-Men!” called Professor X.
Magneto and Mystique were accompanied by a man with a silver helmet and a black suit as well as a muscular man with razor sharp teeth and claws. The muscular man was snarling at a poor girl. “All right, Skrully!” he said. “Drop the act and no one gets hurt!”
“I’m telling you, I’m not a Skrull!” begged the girl.
“I have no patience for games,” said Magneto. “We know there’s a Skrull impersonating a student at this school. Now, kindly tell us who you are and-.”
“MAGNETO!” called Professor X. Magneto and his group turned to see Professor X, the Doctor, and their group arriving. “What do you think you’re doing?!” demanded Magneto.
“And why’d you smuggle Sabretooth and Avalanche here?!” snarled Nightcrawler.
“These two were necessary for my search,” replied Magneto.
“Brutal interrogations aren’t the way to find the Skrull!” hissed the Doctor.
“The interrogations shall make this one more compliant,” dismissed Mystique. “Each suspect will be questioned and subjected to genetic testing.”
“Or, here’s a novel idea,” said William, “you could just let Professor Xavier here read the person’s mind!”
“Skrulls have developed anti-psychic technology,” replied Magneto.
“Do you have ANY evidence that this young lady is a Skrull?” asked Storm.
“How can we have evidence,” asked Avalanche, “until we conduct our tests?!”
“This school is supposed to be a haven for mutants!” replied Cyclops. “You’re subjecting them to what the Right would want to subject us all to!”
“We assumed you would welcome the assistance,” said Magneto.
“Magnus, you need to stop before this gets out of hand as the Skrull most likely wants!” insisted Professor X.
“I have mutants to protect, Charles. Do not interfere.” Magneto used his magnetic powers to make a knife float to his hand.
“Not a chance!” snarled Storm. She then used her own powers to create a small gale to knock Magneto and his Brotherhood off their feet. Magneto snarled when he picked himself up.
“QUEEN ORORO, THIS IS OUTRAGEOUS!” he shouted.
“I agree,” replied Storm, “but I am left with no choice. You’re attacking an innocent student for all we know. Now, once more, leave her alone!”
“We are your allies!” insisted Magneto. By then, there was a familiar “SNKT” as Wolverine extended his claws!
“My friend, you may want to stand down,” warned the Doctor.
“If you will not follow common sense,” snarled Magneto, “then I will make you understand why you’re in the wrong! ATTACK!” The Brotherhood leapt at the X-Men and team TARDIS. Avalanche put his hands to the ground and made the earth shake. Nightcrawler vanished with a “BAMF” and vanished with a smell of sulfur, then reappeared and pounded on Avalanche’s back. Cyclops raised his visor and unleashed a force beam that knocked Avalanche to the floor as Lurra Rus practiced her new telekinetic powers to throw a vase at him.
Meanwhile, Storm and Wolverine rushed at Mystique and Sabretooth. Sabretooth was grinning like a maniac. “So, Logan, you still slumming with these idiots?!” he cackled as he slashed at Wolverine with his claws. Wolverine didn’t say anything. “Aw, what’s the matter?” taunted Sabretooth. “You believe that old saying about being quiet if you can’t say anything nice? You know that’s a load of crap!” Wolverine stayed on the defensive, then rolled out of the way as Storm unleashed a lightning bolt at Sabretooth. Thanks to having a metal skeleton, Sabretooth twitched.
“That’s just a taser wound for guys like us,” remarked Wolverine.
“Oh hush,” admonished Storm. “That’s just the opening.” Amy’s hammer then carried Mystique into Sabretooth’s head and rang their bells.
“…How the hell did you knock out a guy with an adamantium skull?” Wolverine asked Amy.
“Let’s figure that out later,” replied Amy.
Magneto floated to Professor X. “I have no quarrel with you, Charles, as I know you better than any Skrull could,” said the Master of Magnetism, “but you must allow my Brotherhood to proceed.”
“Magnus, please!” begged Professor X. “This is sure to cause division in the school!”
“If the school falls apart, it will be on YOUR head, Charles,” replied Magneto. Just then, he felt himself collapsing. Someone had jabbed their pinky into his chin, targeting a pressure point.
“No, sir,” replied the paralyzer, the Doctor, “it will be on YOURS.”
“Doctor, the helmet!” called Professor X. The Doctor knocked Magneto’s helmet off and Professor X unleashed a psychic attack.
William was keeping Brandon from getting involved. “Come on, Will!” complained Brandon. “I’m an X-Man!”
“In training, from what Professor X told me!” replied William. “I’d rather NOT have to practice my medical skills on my baby brother! Saving Dad from a heart attack was bad enough.” William then noticed someone approaching. …It was the stabbed student! “Hey! What are you doing up?! Get your ass back in-!”
“DIE!” shouted the student as he pulled out an alien gun! Time slowed down for William at least. He honestly thought he was going to die. The weapon fired…then someone leapt in front of the shot! It was only when he heard a gasp thanks to the shot actually hitting his savior that he recognized who it was!
“DOCTOR!” he shouted. The fighting stopped as the Doctor hit the ground clutching her chest in pain.
